Convicted Coal Mine CEO Is Taking His Case To The U.S. Supreme Court

A plaque memorializes 29 miners killed in a 2010 explosion at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia. Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his conviction on charges of willfully violating mine safety and health standards.

John Raby
/ AP

Originally published on May 11, 2017 7:35 pm

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is marking his release from federal custody with an appeal for vindication by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Blankenship served a one-year federal prison sentence after being convicted of conspiracy to violate federal mine safety laws. The charges stemmed from the disaster at a Massey Energy mine in West Virginia in 2010 that left 29 coal miners dead.

"We never give up," says Blankenship attorney William Taylor, who notified the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday that Blankenship will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

In his first two days of freedom, Blankenship has posted a blizzard of tweets declaring his innocence and blaming the Upper Big Branch mine disaster on federal regulators and what he says was a natural inundation of natural gas.

Multiple investigations blamed the explosion that ripped through the mine on inadequate safety protections, including excessive explosive coal dust, inadequate ventilation and worn out equipment. Federal prosecutors cited Blankenship's micromanagement and obsessive focus on coal production in the conspiracy trial that resulted in his conviction and imprisonment. The charges were based on safety practices at Massey Energy and Upper Big Branch but were not directly related to the deadly explosion.

Blankenship's conviction was upheld by the federal appeals court. Taylor argued that the jury instructions during Blankenship's trial were unfair, pinning conviction on "reckless disregard" of mine safety laws rather than intent to violate the law.

As Ken Ward, Jr., reported in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the defense argued on appeal that "the government fully exploited these novel willfulness instructions to obtain a conviction for not doing enough concerning safety rather than for intending to violate the law."

Taylor is confident the Supreme Court will take the case. "It's a pretty clear issue," he says. "We're either right or wrong about that."

Taylor also insists that the timing of the Supreme Court petition notice "has nothing to do with [Blankenship's] incarceration status," even though it was filed the day after Blankenship's release, and as Blankenship took to Twitter with a spirited defense.

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On Monday April 5, 2010, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, killed 29 miners. At the time, the mine was owned by Massey Energy, which federal regulators and a state funded independent investigation found responsible for the blast. Massey’s CEO was Don Blankenship.

As the state's focus shifts to Charleston this week for the start of former Massey CEO Don Blankenship's trial, we're taking a look back at a 2005 special episode of Outlook titled "The Kingmaker."

The half hour special profiles Blankenship and his political influence at the time, just after the 2004 election when he spent some $5 million on the campaign to elect Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin.

A federal appeals court has invalidated a sweeping gag order in the case of a former coal company executive accused of violating safety standards at a West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 men.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order Thursday, three days after hearing arguments on the issue.

U.S. District Judge Irene Berger's order prohibited just about anyone, including victims' relatives, from speaking publicly about former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's case. She also kept most court filings secret.